Circuit-controller.



s. 1 HULL.

CIRCUIT CONTROLLER.

APPLIOATION FILED APR. 3, 1913.

2 SHEETBSHBET 1.

UIH I Win 1 mlllun WWW WITNESSES mom/Er s. P. HULL. CIRCUIT CONTROLLER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 3, 1913.

Patented Mar. 10, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR Br 1W ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL I. HULL, 0F YONKERS, NEW YORK.

CIRCUIT-CONTROLLER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL P. HULL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Yonkers, in the county of \Nestchester and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Circuit- Controllers, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings, forming part thereof.

My invention relates generally to electric circuit-controllers and relates particularly to circuit controllers for use in connection with the tappet bars of interlocking machines employed for controlling railway switches and signals, and my present invention is an improvement upon my former invention covered by Patent No. 1,047,415, granted December 17, 1912.

A prime object of my invention is to provide a maximum number of contact members in a compact construction which complies with standard requirements, enabling a large number of circuits to be controlled from each tappet bar.

Another important object of my inven tion is to permit a wide variety of connec tions to be made in the circuits controlled.

Another object is to improve in detail the operative parts and combinative arrangement thereof.

More general objects of my invention are inexpensiveness of manufacture, effectiveness of operation, non-liability of derange ment, simplicity of construction, economy of time and labor in installing and in effecting adjustments, and interchangeability of a large number of parts of the device.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear.

My invention includes features of construction and combinations of parts, as will appear from the following description.

I shall now describe the circuit controller embodying my invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings and shall thereafter point out my invention in claims.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved circuit controller as viewed from the left in Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a front elevatlon, partly in section, on a vertical plane indicated by the line 22 of Fig. 1 as viewed from the right, and also with portions broken away below such section. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on a horizontal plane indicated by the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 as Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed Apr'i'13, 1913.

Patented Mar. 10, 1914.

Serial No. 758,544.

viewed from below. Fig. 4 is a similar section indicated by the line 4-4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the separated end portions of one of the bars which carry the contact springs. Fig. 6 is a section on a plane indicated by the line 66 of Fig. 5 as viewed from the right. Fig. 7 is a similar sectional view with the two parts of the bar joined. Fig. 8 is a section on a plane indicated by the line 88 of Fig. 7 as viewed from the left. Fig. 9 is an elevation from the inner side thereof of one of the clamping devices for adjustably holding the contact springs in place on the supporting bars. Fig. 10 is a central vertical section of what appears in Fig. 9 as viewed from the right, and with portions of a supporting bar indicated in outline by broken lines. Fig. 11 is an enlarged elevation of the clamp member as it appears in Fig. 9. Fig. 12 is an elevation of what appears in Fig. 11 as viewed from the right. Fig. 13 is a plan of what appears in Fig. 11. Fig. 14 is a further enlarged plan of a portion of the clamp member as it appears in Fig. 13.

It is to be understood that my invention may be installed for use with any suitable interlocking machine, for example, such as that illustrated in the above mentioned patent. Also, while the circuit controller of my invention is particularly intended and especially constructed for use with interlocking switch and signal controlling machines in the railway traffic-controlling art, it should be understood that the use of my improved circuit controller is not necessarily confined to such art. However, when employed in connection with an interlocking machine, the circuit controller of my inven tion, by reason of its compactness and great flexibility as to circuit combinations, is peculiarly advantageous.

In the circuit controller embodying my invention illustrated in the drawings, a base support 1 of any suitable material, such as wood, carries end supports 2, which may conveniently be metal castings. Parallel shiftable and stationary contact member supporting bars 3 and 4, respectively, are provided. These bars are of similar const-ruction and may be identical, if desired, for convenience of manufacture, and are composed of suitable insulating material, such as an insulating fiber commonly employed in the art. The bars 3 and 4 are shown as having end portions of rectangular crosssection, which terminate in shoulders between which the larger median portions of the bar are shown as of a hexagonal shape. The stationary bar t is shown as resting in contact with the base 1 and as firmly supported at its ends by the end supports 2, the rectangular portions of the bar up to the shoulders fitting closely in notches in thickened base portions of the end supports and being shown as further held by screws. The rectangular end portions of the shiftable operating bar 3 are guided to slide in flanged notches in the outer portions of the end supports 2 and are retained in place, by removable pieces 5, which are provided for convenience in assembling or in taking apart the device, instead of making these pieces integral with the end supports 2, of which they form parts.

The stationary bar 4} has a plurality of groups or series, shown as two series, of contact members, shown as contact springs 6, mounted thereon and projecting forward therefrom, one series at each side of the bar 4. The contact springs 6 of each series are arranged in a plurality of sets, shown as two, provided with contact-making portions arranged in otl set or staggered relation, so as to be located in the paths of correspondingly offset or staggered contact-making portions of corresponding groups and sets of movable contact members 7 carried by the longitudinally shiftable operating bar 3. The contact springs 6 may all be of like construction, as shown, being merely turned to the right or to the left to provide the desired offset relation of their contact-making portions. The contact-linking end portions of the contact springs 6 are of increased width and are turned slightly laterally to provide sloping contact shoulders.

The movable contact members 7 carried by the longitudinally shiftable bar 3 project rearwardly from the bar 3 toward the stationary contact springs 6 and are similarly arranged in a plurality of series or groups, shown as two, one such series at each side of the bar 3, and each group or series includes a plurality, shown as two, 01' sets of contact members provided with contact making portions arranged in ofiiset or staggered relation, so that the contactmaking portions of the movable contact 'iembers 7 are adapted to move in parallel paths in which are located the contact-mahing portions of the stationary contact springs 6. The movable contact members 7 are shown as all of like construction, simply having their ollset contact-hulking portions turneo to the right or to the left, as shown. The movable contact members 7 are shown as having greater width in their contact-making portions to permit overlapping engagement with the correspondingly widened contact-making portions of the stationary contact springs 6, and as shorter and therefore stiffer than the stationary contact springs 6, as is desirable. The widened contact-making end portions of the contact members 6 and 7 and the staggered arrangement thereof provide for the employment of a large number of contact members in a limited available space.

The employment of two bars, such as 3 and 4, each carrying a plurality of series of contact members, as in the present invention, gives increased compactness of construction and also provides for a large variety of possible circuit connections, as will hereinafter more particularly appear.

The construction of the contact member supporting bars and 4t and or the means for supporting the contact members 6 and 7 thereon enabling the hereinbetore mentioned compactness and large variety of circuit connections will now be described.

Each bar, 3 or 4, is composed of longitudinally joined duplicate parts or halves shaped, as shown, to form opposite T-shaped slots in the bar when the parts are joined, with an intervening separating web between the slots when the parts are joined. These T-slots do not extend into the re duced rectangular end portions of the bar.

The two parts of the bar are held. in alinement by means of a projection and a recess provided at the rectangular end portions of each half or duplicate part, each such projection and recess having interengaging cooperation with the corresponding recess and projection of the other duplicate part oi 'the bar. The two halves or parts of the bar are held together by a countersunk bolt 8, shown as passing through the two parts of the bar between the respective interengaging projections and recesses.

The outer surfaces of each bar slope op positely away from the T-slot formed therein and each such sloping surface is provided with transverse gripping teeth, the teeth at one side of the slot being disposed in oilset or staggered relation to the teeth at the other side of the slot, as most clearly seen in Fig. 14:.

The clamping devices for holding and positioning the contact members 6 and 7 on the bars 3 and 4 include a clamp member 9 and a T-bolt 10. The T-bolt 10 has a flat T- head and a round shank both of a thickness to snugly enter the T-slot in the bar, the shank of the bolt being then turned to transversely position the T-head in the T-slot. After the bolt 10 has been positioned, the clamp member 9 is applied. The clamp member 9 has bifurcations or prongs which project into the slot at each side of the shank t the bolt, the terminal portions of these prongs engagingthe head of the bolt at opposite sides thereof to prevent rotation of the bolt in the slot, such as would result in disengagement of the bolt from the bar. These prongs fit closely in the slot and at the sides of the bolt head and also prevent rotative or angular movement of the clamp member 9 on the bar.

The clamp member 9 has reversely inclined surfaces conformed to the outer sloping surfaces of the bar for cooperation therewith to assist in preventing rotative movement of the clamp member on the bar and also to draw the two parts of the bar firmly together on the prongs of the clamp member and on the shank of the bolt 10. These inclined surfaces on the clamp member are provided with transverse gripping teeth cooperative with the similar teeth on the bar, the teeth on one inclined surface of the clamp member being arranged in offset or staggered relation to those on the other inclined surface, as clearly appears in Fig. 14, but also apparent in Figs. 8, 11 and 12. This staggered relation of the gripping teeth on the clamp members 9 and on the bars 3 and 4 provides for the adjustment of a contact member along a bar to the extent of one half the dimensions of a tooth merely by rotatively reversing a clamp member 9.

On its outer contact member receiving surface the clamp member 9 is provided, as shown in the drawings, with lugs forming shoulders engageable with a contact member, 6 or 7, to prevent rotative or angular movement of the contact member relatively to the clamp member, the arrangement and spacing of these lugs being such as not to interfere with the application of retaining nuts, for holding in place the clamp member 9 and the contact member, 6 or 7. The clamp bolts 10 also serve as binding posts for the attachment of circuit wires and for that purpose are shown as provided with washers and wire clamping nuts, as well as usual jam nuts. All of the clamp members 9 and T-bolts 10 throughout the circuit controller are duplicates and interchangeable.

It should be noted, by reason of the separate and distinct T-slots for each series of contact members, that the contact members in each series may be adjusted to all points along a supporting bar, 3 or 4, without any interference whatsoever between the clamping devices of the separate series of contact members. Also it is to be noted that the intervening middle web between the T-slots obviates any possibility of accidental contact of the heads of the bolts 10 belonging to the different series, such as otherwise might occur in attaching, removing or adjusting a contact member, and which would form an electrical contact which might re sult in a wrong circuit connection being formed. The portion of the T-slot which receives the bolt head is only of a width to accommodate the bolt head, the bolt being attached or removed by a rotative movement,

such rota-tive movement, however, being prevented as an accident by the clamp member 9, as hereinbefore described.

The very large number and variety of circuit connections possible with my improved circuit controller should be particularly noted. In the drawings, no attempt has been made to show the variety of these connections, as to do so would only be confusing and not illuminative. Ordinarily, the incoming and outgoing circuit wires will be connected to the stationary contact members 6. The connections among these different circuit wires is controlled by the movable contact members 7, which may be variously adjusted and interconnected in almost endless variety to make or to break contacts as desired. For example, connections, by means of short connecting wires, may be made between movable contact members 7 located at opposite sides of the shiftable bar 3 so as to form conductive bridges either between contact members 7 opposite each other or located diagonally in relation to each other, to control circuits having terminals at opposite sides of the stationary bar 4; or different contact members 7 located on the same side of the bar 3, either adjacent or separated, may be connected together, to control circuits having terminals at the same side of the stationary bar 4; or a single movable contact member 7 may control a circuit terminating in two adjacent stationary contact members 6 at the same side of the stationary bar 4, as is indicated near the middle and in the lower portion of Fig. 1. The different adjustments and arrangement of connections to effect any desired control of a large number of circuits will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

For use with interlocking switch and signal controlling machines, the longitudinally shiftable operating bar 3 is connected at its upper end, by means of a link, with the lower end of a tappet bar of the interlocking machine. In the drawings, the upper end of the shiftable bar 3 is shown as provided with a transverse opening for use in effecting such a connection, or other connection for operating the circuit controller.

It is obvious that various modifications may be made in the construction shown in the drawings and above particularly described within the principle and scope of my invention.

I claim 1. An electric circuit controller comprising, in combination, a pair of relatively longitudinally shiftable contact member supporting bars, and a plurality of contact members carried by each bar and separated longitudinally of the bar into a plurality of segregated groups in which the contact members are arranged in series longitudinally of the bar, the contact members of the segregated groups being separated longitudinally of the bar into sets in which the contact making portions of the contact members are in different planes longitudinally of the bar and are in the paths of and cooperative with the contact-making portions of contact members belonging to corresponding sets of corresponding groups on the other bar and out of the paths of the contact-making portions of the contact members of non-corresponding sets and groups.

2. In an electric circuit controller, in combination, a bar for supporting conductive contact members formed of longitudinally joined pa ts shaped so as to produce a T- shaped slot in the bar when the parts are joined, a contact member, and a T-bolt engaging in the T-shaped slot and clamping the contact member on the bar.

3. In an electric circuit controller, in combination, a bar for supporting conductive contact members formed of longitudinally joined parts shaped so as to produce opposite T-shaped slots in the bar when the parts thereof are joined with an intervening web between the slots, a contact member for each slot, and a T-bolt for each contact member for clamping it on the bar, the heads of the T-bolts engaging in the respective T-shaped slots and the possibility of contact of the bolt heads with each other being prevented by the central web of the bar.

l. In an electric circuit controller, in com bination, a bar having therein a T-shaped slot, a T-bolt engageable in the T-shaped slot having a shank so shaped and dimen sioned as to permit the bolt to be turned in the slot for effecting attachment and removal of the T-bolt, a clamp member en gaged by the T-bolt and having a portion projecting into the T-shaped slot and en gaging the head of the T-bolt to prevent rotation of the T-bolt, and an electric contact member held in place by the Tbolt and clamp member.

5. In an electric controller, in combination, a bar having therein a T-shaped slot, a T-bolt engageable in the Tshaped slot having a shank shaped and dimensioned for turning in the slot so as to permit attachment and removal of the T-bolt, a clamp member engaged by the T-bolt having prongs projecting into the slot at each side of the T-bolt and engaging the opposite fiat sides of the head of the T-bolt to prevent rotation of the T-bolt in the slot when the clamp member is in place, and an electric contact member held in place on the bar by the T-bolt and clamp member.

6. In an electric circuit controller, in combination, a bar having therein a T-shaped slot, abolt engageable in the slot, a clamp member engaged by the bolt having a portion projecting into the slot at the side of the bolt and adapted to prevent rotative movement of the clamp member on the bolt, and an electric contact member held by the bolt, the contact member and the clamp member having cooperating abutting portions for preventing angular movement of the contact member.

7. In an electric circuit controller, in combination, a bar having therein a T-shaped slot, a bolt engageable in the slot, a clamp member engaged by the bolt having prongs projecting into the slot at the sides of the bolt so that the clamp member cannot move angularly around the bolt relatively to the bar, and an electric contact member held by the bolt on the clamp member, the latter having shoulders engaging the contact member to prevent angular movementof the contact member around the bolt.

8. In an electric circuit controller, in combination, a bar 11 ving longitudinally therein a T-shaped slot and outer surfaces sloping oppositely away from the bolt, a clamp member having inclined surfaces conformed to the sloping surfaces of the bar for cooperation therewith to prevent rotative movement of the clamp member on the bar and also adapted to draw the opposite side portions of the bar toward the slot by the pressing of the clamp member toward the bar, an electric contact member held against angular movement by the clamp member, and a clamp bolt engageable in the slot and clamping the clamp member and the contact member on the bar so that the clamp member by reason of its inclined surfaces cooperating with the sloping surfaces of the bar draws the side portions of the bar at opposite sides of slot together on the bolt.

9. In an electric circuit controller, in combination, a bar having longitudinally there in a T-shaped slot and outer surfaces sloping oppositely away from the slot, a bolt en gageable in the slot, a clamp member having prongs projecting into the slot at the sides of the bolt and also having inclined surfaces conformed to the sloping surfaces of the bar for cooperation therewith, and an electric contact member adapted to be held against angular movement by the clamp member, the contact member and the clamp member being clamped in place by the bolt so that the said inclined surfaces of the clamp member will draw the opposite side portions of the bar into clamping relation with the prongs of the clamp member in the slot.

10. In an electric circuit controller, in combination, a bar provided transversely thereof with two sets of teeth, of which the teeth in one set are arranged in relatively offset relation to the teeth in the other set, an electric contact member, and a clamping device for holding and positioning the contact member on the bar and having a clamp member provided with relatively offset teeth cooperative with the similarly offset teeth on the bar, the toothed member of the clamping device being reversible on the bar, so as to permit adjustment of the clamping device longitudinally of the bar to an extent less than that afforded by a single tooth.

11. In an electric circuit controller, in combination, a bar having longitudinally therein a T-shaped slot and provided transversely thereof at each side of the slot with a set of teeth, in each set of which the teeth are arranged in staggered relation to the other set, a bolt engageable in the slot, a clamp member cooperative with the bolt having prongs substantially filling the slot at the sides of the bolt and provided with teeth arranged in sets and similarly staggered and engaging with the staggered teeth of the bar so that by reversing the clamp member on the bar a longitudinal adjustment of the clamp member on the bar equal to half the dimensions of the teeth will be secured, and an electric contact member held by the bolt and clamp member.

12. In an electric circuit controller, in combination, a contact member supporting bar formed of longitudinally joined duplicate parts in which each such part is provided with a recess and a projection cooperative respectively with the corresponding projection and recess in the other duplicate part of the bar for holding the two parts of the bar in alinement, an electric contact member, and a clamping device for holding the contact member on the bar, the clamping device having a portion received and held between the two duplicate parts of the bar.

13. In an electric circuit controller, in combination, a contact member supporting bar formed of longitudinally joined duplicate parts in which each such part is provided at each end with a projection and a recess for inter-engaging cooperation respectively with the corresponding recess and projection of the other duplicate part of the bar for holding the two parts of the bar in alinement, means for holding the duplicate parts of the bar together, a contact member, and means carried by the bar for holding the contact me aber in place on the bar.

14;. In an electric circuit controller, in combination, a contact member supporting bar formed of longitudinally joined duplicate parts in which each such part is provided with a recess and a projection cooperative respectively with the corresponding projection and recess in the other duplicate part of the bar for holding the two parts of the bar in alinement, such duplicate parts being so shaped as to produce a T- shaped slot in the bar when the parts are joined, an electric contact member, and a Tbolt engaging in the T-shaped slot and clamping the contact member on the bar.

In testimony whereof I have aiiixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SAMUEL P. HULL.

Witnesses HENRY D. ILLIAMs, Vxcron D. Bons'r.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G." 

